Monday, August 26, 2013

Today BBC premiered Darkside, a new dramatic interpretation of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, which was released 40 years ago!

[Tom] Stoppard has written a strangely compelling radio drama based on and inspired by the album's multi-layered, existential meditations on fear, madness, greed, and the elusive passage of time. Darkside, as Stoppard calls the play, isn't a musical, with actors performing the songs. It's an abstract interpretation of the music and its possible meanings, dramatized by a small cast of recurring characters, with the album's songs woven throughout the piece as a soundtrack. [via npr.org]

Intriguing. Although not my favorite Pink Floyd album, Dark Side of the Moon has played an important role throughout my life; from my first-year college dorm floor name to a memorable evening of tirelessly soundtracking Wizard of Oz with a friend. It didn't work so well. Still, Dark Side is undoubtedly one of the best headphone albums.